The potential of palaeoecological studies in archaeological wetland sites of the southern Baltic regions

Abstract

The ancient lake settlement tradition is not characteristic of one particular geographical area or time period, but it is spread over various European regions and dates from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages (Menotti and O’Sullivan 2013). Already in the 19th century, lake settlements were discovered in the Baltic region as well as elsewhere. Although research concentrated on sites in Poland up to the end of the 20th century (Pydyn and Gackowski 2011; Pranck _ enait _ e 2014, this volume), recent discoveries have directed attention to Lake Luokesa (Luokesai ežeras), Lithuania, as the five articles in the present issue show. The Luokesa lake settlements L1 and L2, dated to the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, were discovered at the very beginning of the 21st century and excavated between 2000 and 2011. The excavation (mainly of L1) was carried out underwater and revealed a thick cultural layer, containing extraordinarily well preserved organic material, which allowed an unprecedented interdisciplinary palaeoecological investigation. In contrast, site L2 which was located on the opposite side of the lake consisted of a barren wooden platform without any cultural layers. Excavations were carried out by a team from the Department of Archaeology at Vilnius University and the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Centre which included Z. Baubonis, R. Kraniauskas, M. Kvedaravicius, G. Motuzait _ e-Matuzeviciūt _ e, E. Pranck _ enait _ e and numerous volunteers. Part of the excavations and, above all, the entire palaeoecological investigations, which comprised soil micromorphology, pollen and plant macroremain analyses and dendrochronological studies carried out between 2008 and 2011, were fully funded by the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research within the Project ‘‘Understanding human occupation in later prehistoric Europe’’ (No. NF K-13K1-117893), directed by Francesco Menotti (IPAS, Basel University). The first article by E. Pranck _ enait _ e gives a comprehensive overview of the history of lake settlement research in north-eastern Europe. The excavated settlement structures and finds at L1 and L2 are presented and the importance and unusual nature of the settlements stressed. Formerly raised hypotheses and interpretations of the origins as well as the development and use of the region’s lake settlements are discussed. This article forms an important review and starting point for the other papers dealing with the Luokesa sites, which present results of dendrochronology, geoarchaeology, palynology and archaeobotany. The dendrochronological study by N. Bleicher allows the Luokesa lake settlements to be placed within a precise Late Bronze/Early Iron Age (LBA/EIA) chronology for the first time. A 90 year long floating chronology of the settlement could be established and fitted to the time axis by wiggle-matching radiocarbon dates to 625 and 535 BC (2r range). The duration of the settlements however was much shorter, for example L1 was in use for only ca. 16 years. S. Jacomet (&) Department of Environmental Sciences, Basel University, Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science, Spalenring 145, 4055 Basel, Switzerland e-mail: stefanie.jacomet@unibas.ch